Bullied girls benefit more from mother's affection than boys

A new research found that girls who get bullied by their friends can be prevented from negative behavioral outcomes with the help of their mothers' affection, as compared to boys.

The research conducted by the researchers of University of Michigan explained that parental factors like their behaviours towards the child, family conflicts and physical and verbal aggression mitigate the impact of adverse peer relationships.

Grace Yang, study's lead author said that children who developed hostile and distrustful relationships with their parents due to low parental warmth and responsiveness might adopt similar patterns of negative expectations when engaging with peers, as a result of their greater fear and anxiety.

The research showed that boys who were bullied more frequently displayed higher levels of antisocial behavior despite of parenting factors, whereas the way girls responded to bullying, depended on the parent dynamics and this difference was due to how differently they behave with peers and where they spent their time.

The researchers observed in their study that boys talk less with their mothers than girls, and consequently receive less support and intervention on their behalf to lessen the occurrence and mitigate the negative effects of bullying.